Clemens, Samuel L.

A group of three letters and one note, including one of the last letters Clemens ever wrote dated 24 January 1910, approximately 3 months before his death. Letters dated 1910 are scarce, only three have turned up at auction in the past 35 years.



Autograph note on a postcard, New York, 10 April 1902 initialed ("SLC"), to the Plasmon Company, inquiring: "Has Mr. Butlers returned? Any news? What is your telephone address?" Clemens was a major investor in Plasmon which manufactured a nutritional supplement. — Autograph letter signed ("Mark Twain"), 3 pages on Villa di Quarto stationery, Florence, 26 May 1904, to Missouri governor David R. Francis, regretting that he cannot exhibit himself at the great fair and get a prize but that he will be represented by a portrait by Professor Gelli; light soiling. together with: holograph envelope; frayed, soiled, and stained. — Autograph letter, [Bermuda], one page (possibly a fragment), 24 January 1910, to A. B. Paine, asking him to forward an enclosed note (no longer present) to Mr. Morosa, a poem to Clara, reports he sees visitors frequently and enjoys "Good times, good home, tranquil contentment all day & every day, without a break."  Together with: holograph envelope rimmed in black; frayed at top margin. — Autograph letter possibly in the hand of Isabel V. Lyon and signed ("S. L. Clemens"), 2 pages, Bay House, Bermuda,15 February 1910, to General Thomas L. James, advising him not to send anything to Bermuda by an express company and that he had not received the parcel of money sent on 4 February; several pinholes at center of both leaves.